S(urge)scalation

In an obvious desperate (and successful) attempt to fool the American people, the Pentagon took advantage of the fact that July came on the heals of the deadliest quarter in Iraq for Americans to claim success for Bush's "surge strategy" when the Law of Blood, Sweat and Tears ("What goes up, must come down") saw the pendulum of death swing down once again.

"This is what we thought would happen once we get control of the real key areas that are controlled by these terrorists," Odierno said at a press conference.

In the July 26 interview with then "only" 62 American casualties for the month, the administration was about to proclaim that it was the safest month for US forces the entire year (the "surge" began in January). The problem is that would have still been the deadliest July for Americans in Iraq, not to mention the Coalition-of-the-Still-There.

Period	US	UK	Other	Total	Avg	Days
7-2007	62	7	1	70	2.92	24
7-2006	43	1	2	46	1.48	31
7-2005	54	3	1	58	1.87	31
7-2004	54	1	3	58	1.87	31
7-2003	48	1	0	49	1.58	31

The military's lamb went out like a lion though with July casualties topping out at 80 US and 8 UK. At $2 billion a month, Bush's surge has seen elevated levels of coalition casualties with no end to the carnage where bombings and murders continue at alarming rates. Civilian casualties in Iraq rose from 1,227 in June to 1,653 in July.

Update:

Roadside bomb attacks on American troops in Iraq reached an all-time high last month [July '07], accounting for more than one third of all combat deaths.